The continued strengthening of the naira in the both the official and parallel markets has brought some measures of reprieve for Nigerian importers as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) further slashed the exchange rate for computing Customs duties at the nation’s seaports by 3 percent.
The Customs FX duty rate was reviewed downward from N1, 448.386/$ to N1, 405.466/$ on Tuesday, March 26, according to information obtained from the official trade portal of the Nigeria Customs Service.
BusinessDay checks show that as of March 25, foreign exchange rate closed at N1,408.04/$ at the NAFEM, signifying naira appreciation at the official foreign exchange markets as the apex bank supplies dollars at N1,251 to the Bureau De Change operators.
The slash in rate represents about 3 percent reduction when compared to the old rate of N1,448.386/$ used for opening of Form M as of Monday, March 26, and a decrease of N42.92 on a dollar needed to clear goods from the port.
With the slash in rate, importers opening Form M today Tuesday March 26 for importation will have some measures of relief in terms of the money required to pay import duties compared to the importer who opened Form M yesterday Monday, March 26.
This is in line with the apex bank’s new directive that Customs should be using the rate on the date of submitting Form M for calculating import duties.
Despite the CBN directive on the FX rate on Form M, shippers have raised concerns over the failure of Customs to commence the implementation of the Central Bank’s directive of using the exchange rate at the submission of Form M to calculate import duties.
Innocent Akuvue, president general of the National Shippers Association of Nigeria (NASAN), said in Lagos recently that Customs is still using exchange rate different from the one on Form M to calculate import duties.
He said the inability of Customs to implement the directive is impacting negatively on the cost of doing business at the port. He also blamed the accelerating prices of commodities in Nigeria to the fluctuating exchange rate for computing Customs duties.
